Aidan O’Connell: Awkward Raiders snap is ‘all my fault’

The Raiders were already within field goal range with a chance to upset the Chiefs when a botched play cost them the opportunity to send their kicker down the field on Friday’s final play. Raiders quarterback Aidan O’Connell says he was the one who called the snap and that makes him the one responsible.

Despite some rumors that the fault lay with Raiders rookie center Jackson Powers-Johnson for snapping the ball when O’Connell wasn’t ready, O’Connell says that’s not the case.

“Time was running out, I was trying to get guys lined up, and we were just going to throw the ball out of bounds, run down the clock, get to fourth down and score the field goal. It’s all my fault,” O’Connell said. “I looked to the right to make sure the guys were ready and started clapping. In my head I was thinking, cue the ball to get the ball, but when I start clapping it tells Jackson to snap the ball. So Jackson did exactly what he should have done and I applauded too soon. That’s how football bounces back sometimes. It didn’t go our way. It’s super hard, but there’s really no one to blame but myself. This is probably the hardest part to swallow.

It’s commendable that O’Connell isn’t pointing fingers, but the reality is the Raiders coaching staff could have handled the situation better. O’Connell would not have been in this position if the Raiders had let a few seconds elapse before throwing the ball on the previous play, and the Raiders coaches could have done a better job of communicating with O’ Connell than he did. That’s what they had to do. O’Connell isn’t the only one who deserves blame.